Once more for 2011...

Hello everyone!  So glad you all survived the hustle and bustle of Christmas!  I hope each one of you had a wonderful time celebrating Jesus birth!  My trip to Iowa was lovely.  It is always nice to have all my siblings under one roof for Christmas.  I arrived back in Michigan last night, a day later than originally planned so I feel like I am playing catch up a little.  That being said I am so excited to see you all on Sunday!  I have missed the smiling faces of "my kids" (as I call them), and their families too!

I can NOT believe 2011 is almost over.  Wow... my life has seen some MAJOR changes this past year.  And you all have been a part of that.  This time last year I was JUST starting at Calvary!  Can you believe it?!  I can't!  You have been such a blessing to me and as I look back over my first year with you all I consider myself truly blessed.  THANK YOU!

With the new year comes lots of new and exciting events you should be on the look out for!  I am going to list a few to get the ball rolling:

1) Sunday School will pick back up January 8th!

2) There will be an AWANA in the Heights training session on WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11th at 6pm!  ALL class leaders and helpers are "required" to come.  I would also strongly encourage all other volunteers like listeners and other helpers to come for at least the first portion of the night as it will include very useful information like memorization techniques and a presentation on how to relate and connect with kids from various backgrounds (this portion will be brought to you by our very own Laura and Becky!).

3) AWANA in the Heights will pick back up on January 18th at 5:30pm!

4) All year AWANA in the Heights children have been earning points to grant them admittance to various parties.  Each child will be given a slip with their total points and will get to choose which party they would like to spend these points on.  I am (tentatively) planning on holding these parties on Saturday January 28th!  (Please let me know if this will conflict with any major school functions that may keep multiple kids from attending.)

5) FINALLY this semester my intern Kate and I will be bringing a series of cross-generational events to Calvary!  Look for more information on these events as we work to intentionally build relationships between the oldest and youngest individuals in the church.

WOW!  I think I remembered all of them!  Like I said... keep your eyes and ears open for lots of exciting events in 2012!

Hello everyone!  First I want to just thank you all for the wonderful privilege of working with your kids.  I am sooooo incredibly blessed by them!  AND I am soooo proud of all of the work they put into last night.  They did an AMAZING job!  YAY!  And Merry Christmas!

Two quick things I wanted to tell you all:
     1) There will be NO SUNDAY SCHOOL on Christmas or New Years day!  We will start back up January 8th.
     2) If you or any of your family and friends took pictures last night PLEASE e-mail them to me at allisonmnees@gmail.com.  I would really appreciate it!  Thanks!

Yay for an amazing night at AWANA in the Heights!  Thank you all for any prayer and encourgement you gave on behalf of the 3rd and 4th grade boys class.  They had a GREAT night!  I was so pleased with them all around!  The best behavior I think I could have asked for.  AND another excellent trip on the bus!  I am so proud and so blessed by the children of Calvary.  Wow... just wow...

As a reminder to everyone we are going to be taking a few weeks off of AWANA in the Heights.  Regular AWANA will start back up on JANUARY 18th!  There will also be a required training night for volunteers on January 11th!  Look for more details on the training.  (There will be different sections for different groups of volunteers... as I said, more information will come shortly.)

THIS SUNDAY, CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION AT 4:30 PM IN THE CALVARY SANCTUARY!

Childcare/Fundraiser!

This note is especially for those parents that need a night out AND would like the money they spend on childcare to go to a good cause!  Brian and the high school youth group are going to be holding a different kind of fundraiser this THURSDAY December 22nd.  It's a pretty awesome fundraiser because it doesn't require you to BUY or DO anything!  Actually, it PROVIDES you with a night out!  From 5pm until 9pm you may come to Calvary and after delivering your children to Brian's trusty hands (he will have other adult leaders as well as high school student workers present to hang out with the kids) you are free to have a night off!  The suggested minimum donation for this service is $5 per family per hour (maximum $1,000 an hour... hehe) but keep in mind this is a fundraiser!  All funds will go towards the high school summer mission trip to Chicago as well as the high school trip to the GENESIS Conference in Traverse City in March.  So bring your kids on over to Calvary, take some time to have a date night or do some Christmas shopping, and donate to a great cause!  Again this will take place THURSDAY, December 22nd from 5pm-9pm at Calvary.

News!

Hello everyone!  Christmas is quickly approaching!  I can not believe how quickly actually.  I am not prepared at all.  And before you know it it'll be 2012!  Yikes!

Anyway, a couple reminders.  Sunday, December 18, at 4:30 pm the amazing children of Calvary will be putting on a Christmas Celebration as we remember the birth of baby Jesus.  They have been working hard on their parts of the program and would love to have all of you there to celebrate with them!

As always, the Children of Calvary need YOU!  As many of you know, one of the best ways to tell children just how much you love them is to take time out of your busy lives to hang out with them.  So, please consider teaching a Sunday School lesson or just coming and helping out on Wednesday nights next semester. I could definitely use you!  And more importantly the children of Calvary could use your love and attention!

Finally, Brian and I have an announcement for Blacktop.  As summer approaches we are working to get the major details and volunteers lined up. Like past summers we will be hiring two Americorps staff to work with us at Blacktop.  To that end I would like to encourage you to mention these positions to anyone around college age that might be interested in getting experience working with children.  Please feel free to direct anyone that is interested to Brian or I and we can help them from there!

I hope this post finds everyone well as you enjoy your loved ones this Christmas season.  :o)

Oh how I love children!

We had another wonderful night at AWANA in the Heights!  It is incredible to watch kids memorize God's Word.  How cool is it that even 5th grade boys get into it!  Woah...  this week I want to especially thank all the men that help out on Wednesday nights.  It may seem like a little thing but I am truly convinced that it has changed these boys' lives to have godly men coming week after week and simply caring for them!  So, thank you men!  Even though our 3rd and 4th grade boys class has been struggling those leaders are right there along side them encouraging and supporting them.  I can not tell you how much I am blessed to have you all here!  So, please, especially if you know those two men (((mark and jim))) encourage them and thank them for hanging in there!

On a positive note we had the BEST bus ride I have EVER seen.  For those of you that have been on the bus, you know it can be a little crazy.  Not just the Calvary bus for that matter, ANY bus.  It is something about the atmosphere in there that lends itself to chaos!  But I was able to lay down the law and they behaved AMAZING!  God is so good.

A couple requests... If you do not volunteer at or even attend AWANA on Wednesday nights please consider doing so next semester!  We have one more week next week then we will be taking a few weeks off for Christmas and New Years but I would love to have everyone experience the program at least once this year!  Even if you just come for dinner and worship I believe you will be truly blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit as the children of Calvary worship God. (I will also be needing a few replacement volunteers so please prayerfully consider if that might be you!)

Do not forget the upcoming children's Christmas Celebration which will be held Sunday December 18th at 4:30 pm in the Sanctuary.  We are so excited to celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Finally, Sunday School lesson sign-ups are on the bulletin board outside the nursery.  PLEASE take a look at those and grab your favorites before someone else does!

So cute

I was reminded of the cutest thing that happened the other day.  Luckily for me I have this wonderful blog I get to share it on!  Not to abuse this platform of communication but a simple little thing that happened to other day reminded me how truly blessed I am to be here at Calvary, and I want you all to know that.  I was walking to my car in the church parking lot when I hear, "Hi Miss Allison!"  So simple right?  But the sweet thing about it was that it came from one of our youngest church goers and surprised me!  I was all the way across the parking lot from this little boy but he felt the need to greet ME! How cool is that?!  Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of your lives, for allowing me to love your children and your families.  I am soooooo blessed and I pray that in even a small way I will impact your children because they have impacted my life so very much!

This weeeeeek

Hello everyone!  I can't quite believe it is the Christmas season!  While I was home we picked out our Christmas tree and decorated and all that jazz.  It made it so real!  Hmmm... I think I am going to watch White Christmas tonight!

Anyway...  I wanted to give you all a few more details about the upcoming Christmas Extravaganza!  There are going to be multiple smaller things taking place rather than one large pageant or something of that sort.  Michael and I are planning the event and I am so excited to work along side him and his amazing talents to make it a special event!  The night will include the following things: 1) Children's choir will sing a couple songs, 2) There will be an impromptu 'pageant' of sorts, 3) Kindergarten and 1st, 2nd and 3rd, as well as 4th and 5th graders will each present something together that they have worked on in advance, 4) His T.I.M.E. dancers will perform, and finally 5) we will sing some Christmas songs as a group.  It is going to be a beautiful night!  If you have any questions please feel free to ask but also know that there will be more details to come!  For now just remember this will all take place December 18 at 4:30pm.  I can't wait!

Don't forget AWANA tomorrow night!  We only have three more weeks this semester so if you haven't visited a Wednesday night we would LOVE to have you!

Break!

Hello everybody!  Happy almost Thanksgiving!  I am headed home to Iowa today and will not be here Sunday. So I just wanted to give a quick THANK YOU!  To everyone that is covering the many little things that take place for the kids on Sundays.  Thanks for stepping in and serving in any way needed!  I love that I can go away and not even have to worry about everything being taken care of!  Have a Thanksgiving FULL of blessings!

Staff!

Quick note for you today as we just finished our weekly staff meeting.  It was a wonderful yet exhausting time as we challenged each other to think outside the box.  Every time I am with that group I realize just how blessed I am to be at Calvary!  Not only am I surrounded by all of you but I have been given the opportunity to work with this amazing staff.  Anyway, I would just like to encourage you all to step out and let them all know how much you appreciate them because I was reminded this morning that they care an awful lot about all of you!

Praise God!

What a beautiful service yesterday.  I don't want to discount the work of the Holy Spirit every week, and maybe I just needed it extra yesterday, but I was filled with Him as I walked home from church.  I, along with many others, was moved to tears watching His T.I.M.E. dancers worship.  How truly beautiful it is that we can serve God with our whole bodies!  And that Miss Jayne is giving these young women a chance to learn how to do that.  Thank you Jayne!  And to top it off with the adult dance group!  Wow, what a day!  Thank you everyone who played a part in making that all happen!

We started a Sunday School segment where the children will be looking at the many prophecies that were written and spoken about Jesus hundreds of years before he was born! Many of them will even have a craft to represent their lesson.  As they continue learning about these prophecies for the next two weeks help them cement the information in their little brains by talking with them about what they learned!  Our Sunday School teachers are WONDERFUL, don't get me wrong, but without the support of their family AND their Calvary family it will go in one ear and out the other!

One last thing. We WILL be having Sunday School, like normal, this coming Sunday Nov. 27 even though it is the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I will not be here but everything will be ready to go.  Thank you all for your extra help while I'm gone!

Have a very blessed week as we remember everything we are so thankful for!

This Sunday

Not sure anyone will see this but I am in need of a substitute shepherd for 4th grade tomorrow.  If anyone is interested let me know!

The week...

Hello everyone!  I meant to update this a couple days ago but slipped.  So here is a brief recap for the week. We had a really wonderful AWANA in the Heights Wednesday night!  It was a full house and I was nervous about being short at least 5 volunteers, but as always, the wonderful people of Calvary stepped up!  I want to specifically thank Kerri-Sue and James for jumping in at the last minute!  Remember there will be no AWANA or dinner this Wednesday night but please come and participate in the Thanksgiving service on Wednesday evening.  That being said, we are all very thankful for the break this week!  You can always tell when one is coming up.  The kids were definitely a handful!

Exciting news... The new Sunday School lessons have been posted on the Children's Ministries bulletin board outside the nursery!  I have also placed a "menu" of the lessons in many of your boxes.  Please take a look at the descriptions!  If everyone takes one or two they will be claimed in no time!

There are a lot of exciting things taking place this Sunday!  Our wonderful children's dancing group led by Jayne will be performing for God and for the congregation during church!  (If your child is dancing they need to be in the sanctuary at 8:45 am to prepare.)  We will also have some of our very own young men leading us in prayer along with a display of the many beautiful things the Calvary Sunday School children are so very thankful for!

I hope I will see you all there!

Monday Monday Monday!

I just have to say one more time how much I loved the kids singing yesterday!  After church someone came up to me and said, "You must be so proud!"  There is simply no better way to put it.  I am proud and blessed by all of the children of Calvary.

It is hard to believe but Christmas is quickly approaching.  And then the new year!  I wanted to put a little bug in your ear while I'm thinking about it.  Next semester I will be needing some replacement volunteers on Wednesday nights.  For various personal reasons, as of right now, I know I will need a Kindergarten class leader and a 3rd grade girls class leader.  Please think and pray about whether or not you would fit this need.  Just know that there are NO lessons that you will have to prepare.  Simply commit to coming and loving the kids on Wednesday nights.  (See me for a more complete description.)

Have a blessed Monday!

Wow!

I just have to say, WOW!  I am SOOOOO proud of the kids!  They sang beautifully in church today!
If any of them belong to you maybe give them a little extra dessert today.  ;o)
Praise God for children that love to praise God!  And Praise God for Miss Earlene who did such an amazing job leading them!

A-W-A-N-A! In the Heights!

We had another amazing night at AWANA in the Heights last night!  60 wonderful kids blew in from outside.  We ate chicken nuggets, worshiped, memorized God's word, and made some.... interesting cookies (ask the kids what cookie dough with dog food, sand, and motor oil looks like!  ...or Pastor Ron.  Just don't ever let him bake for you.)  I cannot even tell you how inspiring it is to watch all the adults of this church love on the children of Calvary.

One (crazy) couple in particular rushed here just to be with their kids.  I don't want to embarrass them by mentioning their names so I'll be discreet, *cough*Mark&Sara*cough*, I must confess I was a bit nervous when I heard Tuesday that they were flying back from Florida Wednesday.  Their plane landed at 5:15 and they were hoping to make it here by 6.  Now THAT is dedication.  How wonderful it was to see them greet their kids!  I'm sure it was a whirlwind day but I hope it was worth it when they were welcomed with hugs and smiles, even by 3rd grade boys.  What a wonderful blessing you are to me and to your kids, those that live with you AND those that don't.  Thank you!  And thank you all that give of your time and your hearts to love the children of Calvary.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Children's Ministry Blog for Calvary on 8th street!  I am so excited you are here!

To get things rolling I have one announcement:  Sunday November 13 the children's choir will be singing during church.  Please have all kids gather in the lounge at 9:00am to practice with Miss Earlene!